>>The Tahoe resorts are getting pounded this year, even by Sierra standards. I used to live in Carson City NV and skiied the Tahoe area every day off (ah the good old days of $12 mid week lift tickets)
>>
>>http://www.kirkwood.com/site/mountain/snow-report/2010-12-17
>>
>>8.5 feet of snow in the last week is nothing to sneeze at. Kirkwood was my favorite. Highway 88 from the central valley would close during big storms, but access from NV was not an issue. Awsome skiing with no lift lines! They don't ever get real powder though.. Just too warm.
>
>I heard the Sierras might get 6 to 8 FEET of snow this past weekend and I was thinking of the correlation to "lake effect" snow. Buffalo gets lake effect, the Sierras get "ocean effect" snow!


The Sierra can get hammered. In 1982 one storm dropped 15.5 ft. Here is a photo from the 1982 storm.

http://www.tahoetopia.com/news/truckee-ranks-snowiest-town-usa

25 ft berm! I-80 was closed for 5 days. They simply could not plow fast enough to keep up.